The Demon and The Reaper
by The Final Conduit
Summary: Cole MacGrath knew his new mission. He needed to prepare to fight the "Beast" as most referred to it. But, though the conduit wanted help, he didn't expect it to come in the form of a contractor and a doll...


**A/N: This just came to my mind after I finished watching Darker than Black a couple of hours ago.**

* * *

**Time: 11:54 AM.**

**Pulse: 94 per min.**

**Respiration: 10.**

**Location: Ground Zero**

Cole was on his knees, breathing hard, electric blue eyes glowing as he stared at the defeated elderly man before him, white trench coat billowing in the wind as parts of the bottom were torn off.

He narrowed his eyes, swallowing his own tongue to stop himself from breathing hard.

Forcibly, he pushed himself up, glaring at the man before him.

Kessler was finally beat...

He smiled, reveling in his apparent victory over the man underneath him.

However, Kessler too began to rise, voice rougher than before, "Trish... I love you..." Blood seeped out of his mouth as he spoke, "Please forgive me..."

Cole couldn't even comprehend the meaning behind those words, for next second, Kessler was on him, digging his ice cold fingers into Cole's face.

As the silver white electricity poured into his skull, Cole felt his body freezing without his control, and thought Kessler had gotten him, and he braced himself for death, almost knowing that he'd take Cole down with him if he died.

But, like a lot of things that Cole thought recently, it wasn't as simple as it sounded.

Images flooded his mind, the same ones that he'd shown him the first time they'd come face to face.

Only now, among the ice, crows, paths of the destruction, and the rain of ashes...

There stood a giant, body high enough to put even skyscrapers to shame.

Cole saw it's body, black as though it were made of coal, lava coming out from its head down to his toes as though it'd been bleeding much too heavily, eyes so red that he thought that he'd been looking into the eyes of Satan himself, so filled with the want to destroy and the lust to kill, Cole for the first time felt he couldn't even scratch that thing.

He looked at it, and while watching, he turned away, grabbing a woman and two children and fleeing.

However to Cole's surprise, he had no power to stop, and next thing he knew, he was moving much faster than he'd ever done, moving as though light were racing him.

Then Cole realized after a moment...

These are Kessler's memories, he thought, eyes widening.

Kessler ran, for months, never being able to settle down, knowing that the monster was following him somehow, tracking him and his family.

But one day, in his sleep, he woke up, not to the alarm clock he'd made for himself, but to the screams filling his ears.

He looked out of the window of the room, and saw his wife trying to help her children drag a person inside of the makeshift home they'd created.

However, next moment, the sky turned red, and one of his children screamed, alerting the cause of this of their location.

Kessler could barely begin move before a large red sphere came training down on their location, plummeting like a meteor from the vacuum of space pulled in by the Earth's gravitational pull.

It collided with the ground, making Kessler fall from the brief yet powerful earthquake that followed it.

Debris fell on him, but even despite some of the cuts and bruises they caused him, he paid them no mind.

He simply shrugged the pain off, more concerned for his family...

Only...

Kessler froze at the Sight before him, seeing his children's fragile bodies, bones all mangled up and poking out of their bodies.

Dead as they lay in their own blood.

His blue eyes found the demon that stood over him, and his eyes glowed, the mental anguish and fury mixing together.

Then he heard a moan, and he looked, seeing his wife laying on the ground.

He jumped at her, falling two stories to the ground yet not caring at all.

He rushed to her, and when reaching her, he got on his knees, cradling her in his arms.

Kessler could see her trying to speak, but she only mouthed weakly.

Then, for the last moment, she looked into his eyes, her own holding such a sad look of apology that Kessler's heart snapped in two.

Watching this memory happen, Cole somehow felt a rather dark satisfaction at seeing the man who put him through Hell suffer himself, not that he had anything against his family, but still somehow finding joy in seeing it.

Kessler gave a death glare back at the monster, it's roar rising and falling as though it were laughing.

He could see it rising up in power, but he wouldn't let it reach that point.

Kessler charged his palm with electricity, it forming into a ball, then thrusting it harshly at the monster just as it released its wave of power.

It hit at the last second, and in it's surprise, the Beast was pushed over slightly, its wave still being unleashed.

However, as he was hit by the explosive wave, he felt a surge of energy flowing through him rather than pain, much to his surprise as he braced himself.

Then came the flash, the same one that always came whenever Cole gained a new power, and he simply saw Kessler charging his fist, a father clock in the background, and emitting a bright light, making the clock change to an entire hour before that moment.

Kessler breathed heavily as he gained the new power.

He looked at the Beast again, brimming with all of its power, it thriving from the world's destruction.

Much too powerful for him...

Kessler sighed, giving up hope of beating it, even with his own powers.

Then, he realized what his power was, and in his moment of realization, Kessler used it instantly, reappearing on a much more stable street.

He rose to his feet, his clothes heavy, much too heavy for that summer Sun.

As he looked towards the sky, he narrowed his eyes.

He'd gone back in time...

And now, he needed to change the future-

A screech turned the man's attention towards his back, only to see a car stopping in front of him, the driver cursing angrily at him, honking the horn.

Next second, the car behind it crashed into it, and it pushed it even closer to Kessler.

In the moments to follow, Kessler simply watched as the car accident escalated further and further in damage.

And when the first person to crash gained their bearings, he started to leave the car, the furious look on his face telling his thoughts as lucidly as a transparent glass.

And in that moment, Kessler simply teleported away.

When he finally left the scene, the man fished in his pocket, pulling out his wallet after a moment and looking at the picture inside.

A picture of him at his wedding day.

He remembered it clearly, his wife dressed in that snow white wedding dress, red lipstick crimson on her lips, and his best man, a man who was portly and wore golden sunglasses, standing next to him.

And camera shy as ever, Cole hid his face slightly from the photographer, the words of the newlyweds written underneath their faces.

**"The Wedding of Cole and Trish MacGrath."**

Cole felt his heart skip a beat, his mind refusing to process that information for a minute.

Unbelievable...

Kessler was...

The visions ended then, and he looked as he saw the man who had put him through Hell was dying, his face much too similar, the first time Cole noticed, to...

To HIS, Cole's, face...

Kessler closed his eyes, and in the next moment, Cole clenched his teeth, then getting on him, electricity pulsing in his hands.

"Get back up you bastard..." He did his pulse heal on the fallen man, pushing him back to life.

It had little effect the first time however, and he tried it again, and again, and again, similar to how he did it with Trish, only, this time his eyes were withholding a barely contained fury.

And in one moment, the old man opened his eyes, looking in utmost surprise at Cole.

Seeing this, Cole dragged him towards a broken power chord, electrocuting him without mercy.

After he saw that his wounds healed, Cole forced Kessler on his back, then thrusting a burst of electricity on his body, binding him to the ground.

Then he spoke, voice cold as ice yet dripping with venom, "Like hell am I letting you drop this crap on me, you bastard. You're the one who caused this, you're the one who has to make it right. Even if you ARE me. I don't care if you think that I'm strong enough. Just make sure you don't put the whole freaking burden on me."

Kessler looked at Cole for a long time.

Then he smiled, "Spoken exactly like I hoped. You've changed a hell of a lot Cole," his smile dropped despite these words, "But it still isn't enough. If you really want to destroy the Beast, then you'll need allies in order to effectively bring about its downfall."

Cole's glare flickered with a bit of curiosity.

"I've taken two people under my wing who could be of use to you. I ordered them to come after you were to kill me. And when that would happen, I would leave their responsibility to you. Put them under your wing, and prepare as much as possible for the Beast's coming. And just so you know, even though you tried to stop me from dying, like Trish, you only postponed it. Goodbye Cole MacGrath."

Before Cole could react, the sky darkened, and as he looked up, he could clearly see the lightning flickering through the clouds.

Then, when the giant bolt came down, he barely had time to dodge before the bolt collided with Kessler.

Or to be more precise, his metal arm.

Looking at it after the lightning strike stopped, Cole could see it flashing red, a number counting down as he looked.

**_5... 4... 3..._**

Cole abruptly moved away from it as the realization came to him.

As he saw Zeke just starting to come towards him, he sprinted to him, tackling him down to the ground before he could protest.

The powerful explosion that followed left the ground shaking, and as he looked, Cole could only see flames and ashes covering Kessler, the man laying in a fiery languish.

And so Cole glared at him, before getting off of Zeke and leaving without a word.

Those people had better be powerful, Cole thought, or I'll have to bring his ass back to life just so I can kill him again...

Little did he know of the bluish glow of the translucent substance that watched him, it's body resembling a girl.

* * *

Much farther away, a young girl with white hair and purple eyes pulled her hand out of the water of the sink, "Kessler has died." She reported to her sole companion, her voice and face as blank as a new piece of loose leaf paper.

"We should get going then. Come on Yin." He spoke, pulling his black jacket on, black locks falling a bit lower than the bottom of his neck, some facial hair forming on his face.

"Yes Hei." Yin responded, walking next to him as he went, exiting into the streets of Empire City, hand curling snugly around his after several minutes of walking, a small smile forming on her typically expressionless features after her partner held her hand back.


End file.
